Nancy Kerrigan turns to fans ?in slain friend’s memory

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GOOD BUDDIES: Officer Garrett Swasey and figure skater Nancy Kerrigan grew up on the ice together in Stoneham.

This photo provided by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs shows officer Garrett Swasey, who was killed in a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, Nov. 27, 2015

Twenty-five years ago, Stoneham Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan first qualified for the World Figure Skating Championships. This year, with the Worlds coming to the TD Garden, Nancy won’t be on the ice, but she will be nearby, trying to help out the family of her childhood friend, slain University of Colorado police officer Garrett Swasey.

Swasey, Nancy’s close pal and fellow figure skater who grew up in Melrose and trained with Kerrigan for many years, was shot and killed in the line of duty last November. The father of two young children, Swasey was on duty at the UC Colorado Springs campus when he responded to a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic and was gunned down.

“I was at a party for my daughter’s gymnastics team and I got a text from his dad, David, telling me so I didn’t have to see it on the news,” Kerrigan said. “I lost it and started crying. It was such a shock. So sudden.”

Nancy and Garrett began skating together when he was 8 years old and she was 10.

“He was like a little brother to me,” she said.

Garrett’s dad would often drive Nancy and her mother, Brenda, who is legally blind, to the rink with him, and Garrett and people got so used to seeing the four together they assumed Nancy and Garrett were brother and sister and Brenda and David were their parents.

“We trained together out in Vail for three summers,” Kerrigan recalled. “We had a whole lot of fun, being away from home, growing up, making our own decisions.”

Eventually, Garrett transitioned from single skater to ice dancer and moved to Colorado to train there. But he and Nancy stayed close and would often run into each other on the competition circuit. (Swasey won the 1992 U.S. junior ice dance title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the same year Kerrigan finished second at the Nationals, the Worlds and won bronze at the Olympics.)

After he retired from skating, Garrett became a police officer and Kerrigan said it was easy to see why.

“He was a very thoughtful person, always there to help,” she said. “Even as a teenager, when there would be young kids with us at practice, he was always helping them. His family did so much for me. They helped me become the skater I was. … I wouldn’t have been able to practice as much as I did if they didn’t take me to the rink. Even when Garrett was sick, they would still drive me. They taught me so much about how to be giving. They showed me what a good person is, how to be there for others. They were hugely instrumental in my growing up.”

Kerrigan said she wants to help Garrett’s family now that he’s gone, so she will be meeting fans and signing autographs during the World Championships to raise money for the Officer Garrett Swasey Memorial Fund. The fund helps to support Swasey’s widow, Rachel, and their two kids.

“Being together is helping them get through it,” she said. “At Garrett’s funeral, Rachel said that she had been touched by love and support more that week than sadness. It was so touching and I think gave us a lot of hope.”

Go meet Nancy from ?5 to 7 p.m. March 31 at Hurricane O’Reilly’s, 150 Canal St. There is a $10 suggested donation, and anyone who contributes $20 or more will receive a 20 percent off gift card valid at Hurricane O’Reilly’s and the adjacent Sports Grille for the weekend of April 1-3.